Need to Make A Vise

["Bob La Londe" <nospam@xxxxxxxxx>]

I have been bouncing around an idea for a specialty screwless vise.  I've
got the shape and design figured out, and I think I have the machine
processes to make it figured out.  I'm still struggling with the exact best
way to drill the pin holes, but that's not my hold up.  I'm trying to
decided what material to make it out of.  The cheap steel that the Harbor
freight vises are cast from machines nicely, but I don't know what it is,
and I'm not sure it would be rigid enough.  I could do it with aluminum
easily enough, but I really don't think that would work very well.  If the
design works I can see myself using this vise for many many years, and even
custom designing it for other machines.  It doesn't have to withstand tons
of holding force, but it should be able to handle upto 100 lbs of holding
force with minimal distortion.  I know, make it heavy, but the idea is
really geared towards mini machines, so heavy really is not an option.  I
suspect a 75 lb vise would cause or contribute to motor stalling on some of
these machines.